An Interview with Alex Billedeaux!

Hi Alex and welcome to Karen’s Different Corners. I hear you have a new book coming out, so we are going to pick your brain and put you on the hot seat. 🙂 Gee, that doesn’t sound very nice, does it. How about I just ask you some questions about your latest novel?

Everyone, please welcome, Alex Billedeaux

Author of

The Hunter, Grayleer, Due out October 10th, 2013!

Tell us about your writing habits. Do you write every day?

I’ve always thought that the prospect of writing every day sounds nice conceptually, but – much like communism – it never seems to actually work out. I’ll do it for two weeks or so and then burn myself out for a long stretch of time. Writing every two days, or sometimes even three, tends to be the best setup for me.

How long have you been writing?

If we are talking about how long I’ve been published, I had a few short stories placed over the last two years. If we are talking about writing in general though, I’ve been writing since my sister got me into reading at age six. It was a long road to get to where I am today – a long road – but it’s nice to see the ball gain momentum.

Where did you get the idea for “The Hunter, Grayleer?”

Mythology and Folklore. Honestly, a workable knowledge of Greek Mythology was required when I was growing up. It always seemed to be worked into the dinner conversations and brought up during television shows. While The Hunter, Grayleer does not make reference to any Gods or Greeks, Greek Mythology was definitely my seed of interest for folklore of all kinds.

How long did it take you to write?

Several months to write (its a novella length book), and ages to edit. It’s not the first book I’ve written, but it’s the first one I’ve published so the majority of the ‘learning experience’ has been on the editing and publicity side of the process. People think that writing the book is the hard part, but I’m sorry to tell you that it is only half the battle. That may even be generous.

Tell us a little bit about the story.

Even better, why don’t I give you a quick look at the blurb on the back cover?

There are twisted creatures, hiding in the darkness. In the deep woods, the abandoned barn, the back alley, the empty apartment next door. Some control minds or weather, others dabble with lost souls and possession. They have preyed on the unwary for centuries and are only satiated by the next victim they take.

But they have not gone unnoticed.

There are Hunters, scouring just at the edge of the light. Michael Grayleer is one such man. Shotgun in hand, Grayleer tracks down whispers of attacks, finding the perpetrator and removing them before they can hurt anyone else. It is not so cut and dry these days, especially since Grayleer’s prey has found a new orchestrator. Grayleer is not the Hunter anymore. They are being sicked on him, one by one, until he either dies or turns to find protection at the hands of men that he would have never put trust in before. As he watches his new friends slowly lose themselves into the ruthless kills that his job requires, he is forced to wonder whether his Hunt is just – or even forgivable.

What’s next for you? Are you working on another book or will there be a sequel to this one?

Perhaps. The Hunter, Grayleer definitely has more stories to tell, but I’m in the middle of some other works that take priority. My newest work is a fantasy epic in the style of Tolkien’s, The Hobbit. It has been such a new experience for me that I doubt I could bounce back and forth between it and the darker tone of a Supernatural Horror.

What do you do to relax when you aren’t writing?

I watch a lot of TV. Given that reading is the bread and butter of an author, you’d think I’d spend the most time doing it – but there’s something devilishly addictive about one-hour television programs. Its a bit like being force fed a story, I suppose.

Any other creative pastimes? Crafts, gardening, art, etc.?

Considering that my handwriting looks like a two-year old doctor’s signature, I actively avoid trying to do anything that requires people seeing my pencil-and-paper product. I can draw a mean stick figure. Cooking is my most recent pastime, I’d call that creative, and I’m overjoyed to find that most of my creations look exactly like the appetizing picture in the cookbook.